Stinger Michelin Tire Failure 2018 GT1

[sparx]

The front passenger side tire on our 2018 GT1 Stinger appears to be failing. Over a year ago, I was convinced by Discount Tire that cuts as these, were due to hitting a road hazard. I no longer believe that previous conclusion, and I no longer believe Discount TIre's conclusion about this tire's cuts being normal wear. We did replace the right front tire,100% at our expense. At this point, I do not feel the issues with either tire are due to normal wear or a road hazaard. The car has 12,700 miles on it. It is garage kept, so not parked in the desert sun or heat. I have posted some images here of the passenger side front tire showing several cuts or checks in the tread. These cuts appear all around the tire at various intervals and frequency. Appears to be a defect tire- only 12k miles! Years back we had 2 Vettes 1998 and a 2000 with performance tires, never saw anything along these lines happen to those tires, and I drove those car more aggresively. Those Vette tires were Goodyear.

I am posting here to see if anyone else had this issue with Stinger Michelin OEM tires, and am open to suggestions of what I might do to get covered for this; since Discount Tire has dismissed this to normal wear. I have not contacted the Kia Dealer yet.

Thanks very much for any help.
Sparx

 

[nhcowboy28]

Looks pretty clear like you got sideways with the car or slammed the brakes while turning and caught something while sliding for dear life. You don’t get those kind of cuts (and direction scarring that rotates inward) from a defective tire. Or it could be someone towed this thing up a ramp with the wheels turned.

nice try. Either way, neither the dealer or Michelin’s will cover this.

 

[sparx]

Ah no. Never been towed. Never gone sideways. Wife and I are both over 65, we do not drive like that. I will ask her bout any issues during a turn, doubt there were any. I rarely drive this car, only ever drove it over a 100 mile distance twice since we got it.
sparx

 

[NS_Stinger]

What floor is your car sitting on in that picture? Is that one of those coarse concrete floors with the lines in it? I'll tell you what it looks like, it looks like damage from turning your wheel when the car isn't in motion on that floor you have when the tires are really warm. Most garages have smooth concrete floors to avoid that.

 

[G70 Owner]

Curb damage on the rim, maybe you ran over/hit something without noticing?

 

[Kris M]

What floor is your car sitting on in that picture? Is that one of those coarse concrete floors with the lines in it? I'll tell you what it looks like, it looks like damage from turning your wheel when the car isn't in motion on that floor you have when the tires are really warm. Most garages have smooth concrete floors to avoid that.

I second that. The circular scarring indicates turning while standing still. The rips align with the scarring.
The wear pattern seems to indicate you either have been running with low tire pressure, cornering hard or braking while cornering. That would result in a hot tire surface and can indeed easily be ripped on rough surfaces.
Of course I can be wrong about that, I've no example of the tire profile when new or a view of the other tires.

 

[vipeboy2000]

I have seen those kind of "tears" on the tread on our previous bfgoodrich comp 2 a/s on our bmw's before when they were nearing EOL. But we do drive them aggressively.

One note, the michelin PS 4 tires are "rated" or have a treadlife warranty of only 10k miles for staggered setups so 12k miles is pretty good . (edit) michelin halves the warranty only for the rear it seems... so still should be warrantied for the front probably can get a new set of front tires for a reduced cost possibly under warranty..
next set if you want summer tires, i'd go ps 4S vs the ps 4.

 

[sparx]

Curb damage on the rim, maybe you ran over/hit something without noticing?

Mark on rim was from pot hole, very long time ago just graised it. The cuts are all around the tire. I have done a little reading on these Michelins, they don't get much love from their owners.

Wife confirms no sliding while turning, no sliding period. She also mentioned that Discount Tire said this "damage" was cosmetic!

Funny the rears show NO signs of this issue.
Sparx

 

[G70 Owner]

Mark on rim was from pot hole, very long time ago just graised it. The cuts are all around the tire. I have done a little reading on these Michelins, they don't get much love from their owners.

Wife confirms no sliding while turning, no sliding period. She also mentioned that Discount Tire said this "damage" was cosmetic!

Funny the rears show NO signs of this issue.
Sparx

Then what those guys said ^ especially if you only see it on the fronts.

 

[sting me]

You can actually see how the damage was caused in the photo!



Do you see the circular lines that curve in the same pattern as the tears? It looks like there's something on the ground where you make the full turn motion that's snagging on the tread and tearing into the tire. I'd check any place you have to do any tight maneuvers, especially to park. This also makes sense that the rears are not experiencing the issues as they only rotate forward and backwards, and do not turn.

I hate to break it to you, but you will likely encounter these issues with any tire you put on the Stinger. These are wide wheels designed for wide, sticky tires. The added width makes tires of this size more susceptible to damage when making lock-to-lock turns while standing still and the brakes applied. It's best to be cautious about these things and understand why they're happening.

Additionally, to calm your fears, I wouldn't even be too worried about this. It seems your tires are nearing the end of their life anyway, and if this is the extent of the damage during that time, it should be fine going forward. However I'd still try and evaluate the behavior that creates these tears.

I've purchased 3 sets of Pilot Sport 4, sets of 2 Pilot Sport 4S, 5 sets of Pilot Super Sports, 2 sets of Conti ExtremeContacts, 1 set of Firestone Indy500, and 3 sets of Bridgestone RE970AS in the last 7 years. 4 of those sets of tires have been on my Stinger. I've never experienced this damage myself, but others I know have caused this by doing exactly what I postulated above.

 

[G-128929]

Jumping in way late but I am having thus exact issue on my 2019 stinger with the pilot sports on the front right. Dealer says alignment is off. I think it is because I make a left U turn and go around a roundabout everyday so I have excessive wear on the front right. I'm due for new tires but just saw your pics and I have the same issue but it is not caused by damage as some are implying.

 

[sparx]

I should have gotten back here way sooner with the theory I have on our car.
Sting me, most likely nailed it.

Down at the end of the block, we turn left to go on and out of our sub-division, a frequent route. Due to the garbage roads and shoulders in Pima County (tucson) there is a lot of loose gravel along our roads creating shoulders.

When driving back home and making a right turn into our street there is always gravel and stones up to 1" in size on the pavement. at this corner. Thus the passenger side of the car tire is getting ground up at this location.

Months back our original idea was to turn the Stinger back at the end of the lease (April 2021) but when we checked the going prices of the used 2018's and they were about $10,000 dollars higher than what we could buy the car for, we bought it. (Car has only 13K miles on it) Before making the decision to buy the car, I purchased the same model Michelain tire off Ebay in perfect condtion for $105.00 shipped. So I just recently had that tire put on the car. Eventually that tire and the original factory installed remaining rear will be replaced with the better grade of tires.

Tire people and the KIA dealer both commented that these tires do not hold up and they see lots of what we experienced.

Thanks for all you input.
sparx

 

[MerlintheMad]

Tire people and the KIA dealer both commented that these tires do not hold up and they see lots of what we experienced.

I don't agree with this facile excuse by people in the business of replacing things; like your OP experience, they just want you to suck it up and buy new tires.

Here's the thing about Michelin summer tires: being soft and grippy, they need to be used that way or else you are not going to appreciate the quality of the design for that purpose. UHP (186 MPH plus) tires are not going to resist turning in place, they are going to, sooner or later, tear on something like yours did. It happened to me as well on my OEM LF tire in just about the same location on the tread as yours: at the time I thought I was seeing a tread failure too. Now I know that I did it somewhere by turning the steering wheel while stationary. Now, the only place I do that (when I need to have access to the front suspension), is in my own driveway which does not have a surface that will tear into the tread. Even then it is best to move slightly forward or backward while turning the steering to full lock: not just sit stationary; and why is that necessary anyway? The slightest roll while putting the steering into full lock is easy.

If you want tougher tires than the summer rubber, you'll get that with A/S but you'll give up the grip advantage. If that is wasted on you anyway, then you might as well not put dedicated performance tires on the car.

 

[JSolo]

I'll use cardboard if im too lazy to jack up the front end. Just drive onto it then turn the wheel either direction as needed. Allows you to rotate without much resistance.

I saw a neighbor today playing with their suv.. Full lock left, full lock right, probably 5 or 6 times. Not sure what they were testing for but it reminded me of this thread.

 

[Ahawk1968]

For what it's worth... Had the EXACT same wear on the fronts at 15000 miles.. wish I had taken pic. Normal driving except for some straight line acceleration... No aggressive corners... Just had new Michelin pilot sport all season 4's installed today...
235's in front. 265's rear

 

[sparx]

Yeah one more report of how these tires are well... not very good.
sparx

 

[G-229274]

I had a co-worker yesterday on my 2018 same tire passenger front. I have 11k miles. It's driven like one a month garage kept. Freaked me out so now I'm not driving it. I treat DRACU1A with respect. Have used sport 3 times. I thought tire failure

 

[socalvn]

Looking closely at the pic you can see rub marks on the tire the same direction they are torn so something other than the tire is causing this

 

[Chark]

Scooby Doo and the gang already solved this. Old Man Jenkins was turning his front tires without forward motion on a rough surface. He'd have gotten away with it if it weren't for this meddling forum!

 

[Ahawk1968]

For what it's worth... Has everyone with this same complaint checked their alignment? I had assumed a good alignment from the factory... Mine wasn't even close... I'm sure it had contributed to the tire wear...